eircom announces 4,000 new wifi hotspots

eircom: Mark

Hi All,

eircom have just announced the roll-out of 4,000 wifi hotspots across Ireland by 2013. As well as updrading existing hotspots nationwide.

Check out the details on:

http://www.eircom.net/productsServices/wifi/

Also there is a new official Wifi app now available in app store for iPhone & iPad: iTunes link http://bit.ly/eFax4a

Thanks,:)

eircom moderators

MagicMarker

Seems kinda pointless. Should Eircom not focus their attention on making sure everyone with a landline can get broadband?

eircom: Tony

MagicMarker wrote: »

Seems kinda pointless. Should Eircom not focus their attention on making sure everyone with a landline can get broadband?

Hi MagicMarker

thanks for posting. The roll out of extra hot spots accross the country is another step in improving national internet connection. The new HotSpots service is rolled out along-side other initiatives to improve our broadband service.
This in no way impacts upon other improvements being carried out to deliver faster broadband nationwide. We would consider all improvements as a step in the right direction.
Regards
Tony

BArra

why no app for android?

any plans to introduce one?

eircom: Mark

BArra wrote: »

why no app for android?

any plans to introduce one?

Hi BArra,

The app for the iphone was the forst step in adapting the service for smart phones. eircom are looking to make a wifi app available to other smart phones, however we do not have an ondication date as yet.

We will let you know when we get any further info.

Thanks, Mark

ingen

eircom: Mark wrote: »

Hi All,

eircom have just announced the roll-out of 4,000 wifi hotspots across Ireland by 2013. As well as updrading existing hotspots nationwide.

Check out the details on:

http://www.eircom.net/productsServices/wifi/

Also there is a new official Wifi app now available in app store for iPhone & iPad: iTunes link http://bit.ly/eFax4a

Thanks,:)

eircom moderators

seems a bit pointless, why not sort out the issue, about phone lines being too long? instead of throwing loads of cash at wifi hotspots.. nowadays a lot of people have data connections on their mobile phones, and also have a data allowance to use, so wifi would not be that interesting...

I would be interested to know what percentage of eircom customers actually use the wifi hotspots?

concentrate on the core business, such as phone lines and sorting out the DSL mess, rather than spend cash on the flowery stuff.:D

iPlop

ingen wrote: »

seems a bit pointless, why not sort out the issue, about phone lines being too long? instead of throwing loads of cash at wifi hotspots.. nowadays a lot of people have data connections on their mobile phones, and also have a data allowance to use, so wifi would not be that interesting...

I would be interested to know what percentage of eircom customers actually use the wifi hotspots?

concentrate on the core business, such as phone lines and sorting out the DSL mess, rather than spend cash on the flowery stuff.:D

I disagree ,get rid of DSL and line rental and maybe the customers will come back ,why hasn't eircom invested in wireless technology like wimax or Fibre to the home? Line rental and greed is the answer ,because 6 different foreign company's came in and made a killing on the most expensive line rental in the world ,eircom has never been about the customers it's all been about squeezing the public for low re hashed DSL and maximising profit for greedy investors through line rental.

It's got to the point that staff are being asked to take a pay cut because the public have decided not to pay ridiculous money for crap service.

Someone needs to take this company by the balls and make it appealing to the public because it's reputation is complete and utter shyte.

Mr Cork Man

Will eircom wifi work on an Archos 70?

eircom: Mark

Mr Cork Man wrote: »

Will eircom wifi work on an Archos 70?

Hi Mr Cork Man,

We have not any wide-spread problems regarding customers accessing wifi on tablets?

Are you still having a problem accesing the service?

Thanks, Mark

Shane732

I'm a bit late to this conversation but announcing 4,000 new wifi hotspots it totally pointless.

I've an iphone 4 - I can tether or even create my own hotspot!

How about you improve my landline (and everybody else's) so it can handle more than a sh*ty 1mb connection speed?

Seriously you guys have a dated infrastructure that you show no signs of wanting to improve.

eircom: Tony

Shane732 wrote: »

I'm a bit late to this conversation but announcing 4,000 new wifi hotspots it totally pointless.

I've an iphone 4 - I can tether or even create my own hotspot!

How about you improve my landline (and everybody else's) so it can handle more than a sh*ty 1mb connection speed?

Seriously you guys have a dated infrastructure that you show no signs of wanting to improve.

Hi Shane732
in the last year we have rolled out NGB to many exchanges and recently upgraded as many NGB broadband users speeds and upload allowance for free. We are due to implement Fibre to the home technology (FTTH) offering broadband speeds of up to 150Mb per secondin the Sandyford and Waterford areas.
This is part of our plan to provide FTTH where possible. Although no dates are currently available for this it is in planning.
If you would like me to test your own line to see if there is any way to increase broadband delivery / speeds to you just PM me tel. no and I will investigate this.
Adding Hotspot areas may not be a huge development but is answering a need for many customers and any improvement or development in any area, could hardly be counted as / pointless'
Tony

Shane732

eircom: Tony wrote: »

Hi Shane732
in the last year we have rolled out NGB to many exchanges and recently upgraded as many NGB broadband users speeds and upload allowance for free. We are due to implement Fibre to the home technology (FTTH) offering broadband speeds of up to 150Mb per secondin the Sandyford and Waterford areas.
This is part of our plan to provide FTTH where possible. Although no dates are currently available for this it is in planning.
If you would like me to test your own line to see if there is any way to increase broadband delivery / speeds to you just PM me tel. no and I will investigate this.
Adding Hotspot areas may not be a huge development but is answering a need for many customers and any improvement or development in any area, could hardly be counted as / pointless'
Tony

Thank you for the offer of having a look at my line. I've PM'd you the landline number.

I wasn't particularly speaking about my own situation but if you take a look at my situation I think you'll find that there's very little that can be done on my line. Either that or the support team that I've talked to as recently as 1 month ago have been misleading me.

My exchange was upgraded to NGB about a year ago. We received a letter proclaiming that the exchange had been upgraded and that we could get up to 8GB. When we contacted Eircom there was nothing than could be done to increase the line speed. Tell me where is my NGB? Why don't you do a poll to see how many people are happy with there Eircom broadband connection? It'd be a very good eye opener.

Tell me how old are the lines in my exchange and other exchanges around the country?

You can provide FTTH technology to every house in the country but unfortunately our infrastructure is a shambles.

It says a lot that a mobile broadband provider can provide me with a broadband connection in excess of 5mb the whole time. If I upgraded the modem device I'd probably increase this further. The carrier has only been in the country for 10 - 15 years and yet can provide me with a connection far superior to a company that has been in Ireland how many years?

Also in relation to FTTH, correct me if I'm wrong but I think Eircom announced the Sandyford and Wexford (you said Waterford in your previous post - is it Waterford or Wexford?) FTTH connections on the 18th June 2010. That's a year ago and yet we haven't seen them. If it takes over a year to introduce FTTH in two areas then how long before FTTH is actually available to even, say 10% of the country (area as opposed to population)?

In relation to the hotspots -

Quite frankly I do thing it's pointless. Like I said the vast majority of people of have internet access on the go so a hotspot is of no benefit to me.

You have to admit that it's a hard sell from even an Eircom representative to say that the broadband available in this standard is up to scratch. If you think it is then I can send you through numerous EU reports which don't agree.

Our only hope is that the Government enter into some sort of JV with UPC to introduce proper broadband.

Solair

Seems a bit pointless! Public WiFi will be as useful as payphones fairly soon. Does anyone not have a 3G dongle at this stage?

Mobile broadband technology, including from Meteor is going to outpace typical public wifi top speeds soon too!

cipro 55

So where do we find these public WiFi hot spots then.

JustAddWater

I also don't see how they could be if use and also think they're as useful as a payphone or a call card

If I'm out and stuck for wifi I'd either buy a plan from my provider or suck up the 3G charge if I was really bad as I'd still prob be saving over the cost of a hotspot pass

The last Person in my list to give money to is a hotspot provider I'd only use once or twice MAX.

Everyone is different I guess, but I would seriously spend the money on existing infrastructure over taking a gamble on hotspots that may or may not take off. Your ideas are in the right place but the practicalities are not

I would also recommend investing a little into customer retention as not being smart, there are quite a few in here that we can all se are not happy and I know of quite a few who have left and are leaving for UPC

I would be surprised to be honest if eircom went into administration. again not trying to be funny, it's just how myself and a lot of others see it

eircom: Tony

cipro 55 wrote: »

So where do we find these public WiFi hot spots then.

Hi cipro

this is a link to Dublin Hotspots

and the link to Nation-wide Hotspots
Hope this helps
Tony

srsly78

Sure wasn't every eircom wifi in the country wide open a few years ago?

eircom: Tony

JustAddWater wrote: »

I also don't see how they could be if use and also think they're as useful as a payphone or a call card

If I'm out and stuck for wifi I'd either buy a plan from my provider or suck up the 3G charge if I was really bad as I'd still prob be saving over the cost of a hotspot pass

The last Person in my list to give money to is a hotspot provider I'd only use once or twice MAX.

Everyone is different I guess, but I would seriously spend the money on existing infrastructure over taking a gamble on hotspots that may or may not take off. Your ideas are in the right place but the practicalities are not

I would also recommend investing a little into customer retention as not being smart, there are quite a few in here that we can all se are not happy and I know of quite a few who have left and are leaving for UPC

I would be surprised to be honest if eircom went into administration. again not trying to be funny, it's just how myself and a lot of others see it

Hi JustAddWater
thanks for posting your suggestions. I would agree that investment and improvement are keys in providing a greater infrastructure and hope that a national venture is embarked upon to provide this for the future.
Your points certainly have validity and it shows how fast technology ( especially mobile technology) has progressed that a large number of people now connect to internet via their phones, however wi fi is there for many who still do not have this capability..
Tony

Shane732

Hi Tony,

Could you reply to me post above?

Thanks,

eircom: Tony

Shane732 wrote: »

Hi Tony,

Could you reply to me post above?

Thanks,

Hi Shane732
I have replied to your post both here on this thread and to your PM to me. If di dnot receive PM let me know.
Tony

0lddog

Do Meteor PAYG customers have free access to these hotspots ?

If so, how do I go about getting a username / PW for same ?

0lddog

jay93

0lddog wrote: »

Do Meteor PAYG customers have free access to these hotspots ?

If so, how do I go about getting a username / PW for same ?

0lddog

I think if you have Meteor broadband you can get access to the hotspots for free or if your a customer with Eircom Broadband also you can avail of it.

Not sure if people who only have a mobile phone with Meteor can get this tough.

Solair

Would they not be better off spending this money on Meteor's HSPA+ / LTE rollout?

E.g. put small repeaters (Picocells) in large public buildings where WiFi would be needed and 3G signals don't penetrate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picocell

I don't really see public WiFi being something that's going to be around for a lot longer.

Public WiFi reminds me of the failed Rabbit "mobile" phone service that was launched in the UK in the 1990s. It used DECT, cordless phone, technology to give you localised mobile phone access only when you were in range of a local transmitter e.g. in a train station or whatever.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_(telecommunications)

I'd see public WiFi as being a flash-in-the-pan transitional technology. It will be irrelevant very soon, and already is if you have a prepay dongle for your laptop or an smartphone or tablet device with proper 3G access to the internet.

Most WiFi hotspots typically provide pretty slow connections too i.e. really bog-standard DSL speeds like max 8mbit/s. So, it's not really any better than 3G in many cases.

Seems like a totally pointless rollout to me.

JustAddWater

Solair wrote: »

. really bog-standard DSL speeds like max 8mbit/s. So, it's not really any better than 3G in many cases.

Seems like a totally pointless rollout to me.

8 megabits is Bog-standard??? :rolleyes:

Solair

JustAddWater wrote: »

8 megabits is Bog-standard??? :rolleyes:

Yup, it is.

ADSL "classic" version 1.0 goes up to 8mbit/s (7.6mbit/s) max (if you actually live in the exchange)

ADSL2+ goes up to 24mbit/s. Products usually start at 8mbit/s.

UPC Cable goes up to 100mbit/s (Starts at 25mbit/s)

So, yeah, 8mbit/s is "bog standard" i.e. utterly basic entry level product for wireline broadband access in 2011.

If you're on a slower DSL product, you really need to look for a better deal!

cabhairliom

hi there

i have had very little broadband since last thursday and have repeatedly notified on a daily basis the situation to eircom....when i manage to actually get to talk to a human being in their technical support team

the customer support team are so rude and unhelpful that i do wonder if eircom actually want the business or not at this stage

it has taken me since before 3pm today until about 20 past 4 today to actually get through to the person i wished to speak to despite being hung up on by the switchboard staff (there is one there with a donegal accent needs be taken out and advised of manners for starters!!) and then having calls sent to the place where you DONT want them sent to...

i got speaking to someone in the complaints department whose english was pidgin to say the least but i conversed in french with her and explained the situation to her at the end of which she said to me that there was nothing could/would be done anyway....

when i eventually got speaking to who i wished to and explained the situation i was asked if i had been rude but i told him i record my calls and can prove i wasnt but that the staff in there need to be brought up to standard on what manners are all about....(snowballs being thrown in hell by time that happens methinks)

1 member of staff out of 17 managed to do his job correctly so well done Tomas, but pity there not more like you in there...

now i must wait and see what baloney will come from eircom to explain all of this fuddling since their failure to work on repairing/restoring my broadband since last thursday....

Solair

You should see what Telenor is introducing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pouCAOPfYg

(Comedy sketch)

Sponge Bob

Nearly a year into the rollout and around 400 of the 4000 are live by my crude reckoning.

Can we have target dates from eircom please for the 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 and 4,000 hotspot targets now the planning is complete.

cabhairliom

i have had nothing but grief from eircon since the beginning of the year....they had installed a faulty box in the house which has now been replaced 3 times (faulty earth) and i have been told 3 times by them that i do NOT Owe them for this but then they slap it on my bill anyway...when i ring and after the usual half hour wait to talk to a 'customer service agent' i was told that i do owe despite my telling the person that 3 others told me didnt have to pay it.

i know eircon are in deep financial trouble but they also re-issued a bill from 2010 to me claiming it was outstanding - despite the issue having being sorted via my solicitor in 2010

seemingly they cant find the correspondence!!!

but they have no prob sending the bill again!!!

i am still awaiting the return calls as promised by eircon over 2 weeks ago but they are not getting any more from me than what i owe IN LAW...

these people are nothing short of total and absolute idiots!!!

Sponge Bob

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Nearly a year into the rollout and around 400 of the 4000 are live by my crude reckoning.

Can we have target dates from eircom please for the 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 and 4,000 hotspot targets now the planning is complete.

Anyone get any numbers yet???

eircom: Tony

cabhairliom wrote: »

i have had nothing but grief from eircon since the beginning of the year....they had installed a faulty box in the house which has now been replaced 3 times (faulty earth) and i have been told 3 times by them that i do NOT Owe them for this but then they slap it on my bill anyway...when i ring and after the usual half hour wait to talk to a 'customer service agent' i was told that i do owe despite my telling the person that 3 others told me didnt have to pay it.

i know eircon are in deep financial trouble but they also re-issued a bill from 2010 to me claiming it was outstanding - despite the issue having being sorted via my solicitor in 2010

seemingly they cant find the correspondence!!!

but they have no prob sending the bill again!!!

i am still awaiting the return calls as promised by eircon over 2 weeks ago but they are not getting any more from me than what i owe IN LAW...

these people are nothing short of total and absolute idiots!!!

Hi cabhairliom
this list of events is not excusable and my apologies that you not received the service nor response to these issues. I can see that my colleague did ask for details in response to an earlier post. If you could PM these to me I will have these issues investigated for you and should be able to resolve and clarify for you.
Tony